Hey, I thought this was AVSIM? These may be the words running through your mind
see a review for Virtual Sailor, a nautical simulation from AVSIM Partner
Ilan Papini and Quality Simulations. That's what this reviewer thought as
well on first hearing of this sim, but I could not resist trying this out
after seeing some screen shots. Virtual Sailor is an excellent sailing
simulation from the author of Hangsim, a hang gliding simulation. While I
claim no expertise as a sailor, I've been around the ocean enough to make
a fair assessment. If you are looking for respectable sailing sim, with
great open-architecture craft and scenery, it is hard to not like Virtual
Sailor.
Out of the box The sim is easy to set up; it comes as a downloadable executable auto-install which takes up a minimal amount of room once installed, even when you download all of the expansion scenery and craft. You can choose to run Virtual Sailor using Direct3D based video acceleration or 3Dfx glide based acceleration. I had problems getting D3D to run, but the sim ran wonderfully with good frame rates in glide. My problems with D3D were probably due to nVidia driver problems and not an overall failure or D3D. Unfortunately, I never got this ironed out, even after consultation with the author. The glitch in using D3D on my system was a minor one, so there is no reason to be thwarted based on this reviewer's experience. My exchanges with the author left me confident that my problem was isolated. My results in glide were just as enjoyable and I was able to test D3D, I just had a problem with the menu. I got frame rates between 20 to 40 fps running two 12 MB Voodoo II cards in SLI at 1024x768, however Virtual Sailor does not appear to be such a CPU/Video hog that you will notice bad frame rates. The download is actually the demo, which is unlocked, shareware style, after you register the program with Quality Simulations, the author's software outlet. The registration, at the time of review, was $25.00 U.S. and allows for unlimited use; registration comes the ability to use the great add-on boats and scenery and support to create your own boats and scenery. All of the above seems very reasonable for what you get, which is a picturesque, open architecture sailing sim with great physics modeling of the boat and the elements. "Sailing... takes me away... Now that I had Virtual Sailor all set up and ready to roll, I was ready to get out there and sail! The fun factor starts off immediately with choices between a free sail or a yacht race. As I was attracted to Virtual Sailor for its leisurely appeal, I skipped the races and went for the cruising.The instructions on how to operate the sim are well-documented in the windows help file and the commands aren't too hard to remember. There is a hot-key to call up command help while in the sim, taking any apprehension out of dealing with the commands. Sadly, this is not not like using flightsim, where you can accomplish a lot with your mouse, you must remember a few keyboard commands. The helm is mouse-steerable, but you will find better results using the arrow keys on your keyboard. The sim is quite easy to handle as far as the helm, mainsail, jib and spinnaker go, but it will take practice in knowing how to use all effectively. While you can certainly enjoy this as a non-sailor, much the same way a non-pilot can enjoy flightsim, it helps to have some basic sailing knowledge, such as tacking, or you will get a little frustrated. There is a basic panel that shows you speed in knots, your engine speed, a compass and the status of your sails and rigging. The panel also shows wind speed, ocean depth, time and simulation rate. The sim rate is a nice way to speed up your travel from point A to B, but not recommended for racing. Fluid dynamics; both water and wind are superbly modeled and the boat's motion through both gives the impression of being there. While I spent little time using the racing feature, which is a circuit around some buoys, the interaction with the other boats adds to the overall challenge of the race. The AI boats will try to "snake" you at the buoy and get upwind advantage over you, which is nice. Races are easy to customize and setup through the map screen and you can also "slew" to different areas on this map using this screen. You may choose from a chase view or a helm view and both are quite adjustable. It is fun to adjust the helm view so that you are are almost hanging over the side and then go to chase and see a transparent globe which represents where you head would be. Weather really adds to the sim and the sky is fun to watch as clouds form and whisk overhead. You can set up weather conditions and wave heights and they can change over time. The largest wave settings are akin to a roller coaster ride and if you throw in high winds, you may get seasick right there at your desk. The night lighting in the sim is great, especially the glow of the position lights on the vessel and the lighthouses on shore. There is little to complain about with the environmental aspects of the sim, excluding the wake graphics which are a little blocky and bleed through the boat. One quirk of the sim are some of the sounds that are included. There is a sound that replicates the sail flapping and the rigging hitting the mast that is downright annoying; it is way too loud in contrast to the others and when looped will get on your nerves. I got around this by changing the name of the file. There are controls for the sound environment, like wind, waves and engines, so this flap sound can be adjusted, but since it is tied to the wind, you lose other sounds too. To be fair, all other sounds were good and added to the experience, especially the wave sound. The graphics in this sim are very well done indeed, easily on par with most of the current flight sims and better than some of those. The islands in the Aegean Sea in the Mediterranean are very well done with some towns thrown in here and there for good measure. You will also find other craft out with you, whether you are in a race or not, which adds to the flavor. Extensibility What you can really appreciate about Virtual Sailor—once you have registered that is—is the open architecture. Much like the MS Flight Simulator model, Ilan provides SDKs for scenery and boats to keep the add-ons flowing. A few talented authors have already made new boats and scenery, including Ilan who also keep adding new boats and scenery himself. There are submersibles, which take you underwater to find that Ilan did not skimp there either. There are underwater coral beds and other sunken treasures that will have you as eager to cruise below water as above. The underwater graphics are just as stunning as those above and will have you longing for more than just the one provided submersible, called the "bug." Other addon craft include powerboats, fishing boats, exotic sailboats and even the Titanic! The SDK is about as complex as that of MS Flight Sim's but there is no Flight Shop or Aircraft Factory 99 visual tool to help. I am sure that as a community develops around this sim, the add-ons will continue. The scenery add-ons are quite excellent too; at review time, there were sceneries for the Caribbean and the Chicago area on Lake Michigan. Since your speed never gets all that high, especially when sailing, you need not worry about running out of scenery. If you get bored of what you have, you can always make your own! I'd say that this dedication to extensibility sets this sim apart from most other shareware ventures and adds a great deal of credibility to Quality Simulations and Ilan Papini. There are new sets of boats and scenery always being added and no doubt new additions since this writing. This is a lot of mileage out of your $25.00, so it is hard to pass it by. Conclusion Virtual Sailor is one of the pleasant surprises that comes out of left field from time to time, not unlike FSTraffic and similar goodies for flight simulator. The colors in the graphics are vivid and add to the aesthetics of being out on the sea and the boat handling with respects to wind and waves will keep you mentally challenged. There are races for your competitive side and the tools to build a boat of your own for your creative side. The fluid motion of the waves and their textures will leave a lasting impression upon you. The waves actually crest and fall all about you, just like being on the sea. The programming needed to replicate the ocean so well is impressive, as are many other parts of this sim. If you are looking for something new and different, but are afraid of buying something that won't last past the novelty stage, then look no further than Virtual Sailor. There is enough under the hood to keep you sustained for quite some time. With the open architecture, there is not reason to ever run out of things to do with this sim. Put on your Captain's hat and let's go sailing! Ahoy! You'll find further details and ordering information at the Virtual Sailor website.
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